Regis' Latest Health Update

Fri., Mar. 23, 2007 12:34 PM PDT by Julie Keller

Regis Philbin's ticker surgery was a little tougher than he expected but he's still in good spirits.

The 75-year-old morning talk show host called into Live With Regis and Kelly Friday morning and told his perky co-star Kelly Ripa that while he was taken a bit off guard by the severity of last week's triple-bybass surgery, he's on the mend and starting to feel better.

"Well, you know, I think I'm through the worst of it," he said during Friday morning's show. "I guess I was a little unprepared for, you know, the first week and what they actually do to make this thing happen, and so, some of it came as quite a shock."

Philbin was released Wednesday from a New York hospital following his surgery and a week of recovery there. He said that he’s feeling some pain around his chest, back and leg where doctors harvested some arteries for the bypass, adding that sneezing has become a particularly painful endeavor. "Other than that, I'm dancing, I'm having fun," he joked.

In spite of his discomfort, Reeg was quick to show his viewers that his sense of humor is still intact.

After giving his health update, he regaled his listeners with a story about his pain meds and his funky sleeping patterns, telling them that he apparently yelled, "I haven't had sex in three and a half months," in his sleep.

On a more serious note, Philbin gave Ripa props for picking up the slack in his absence, telling her that she's been doing a great job with her band of revolving co-hosts.

Philbin is expected to bank at least five weeks of sick leave to recover for the surgery, which was performed by Dr. O. Wayne Isom, the same surgeon who performed quintuple-bypass surgery on pal David Letterman in 2000.

In his absence, Regis pals and other male movers and shakers, including Howie Mandel, Neil Patrick Harris, Pat Sajak, Jeff Probst, Martin Short and Donald Trump, are helping to pick up the slack.